• A. RA is intended to harm someone by damaging or manipulating her relationships with others
• B. RA escalates during middle school
• C. RA has lots of potential negative consequences for the victims and the perpetrators
• D. All of the above

Correct!Incorrect
D: Relational aggression is behavior that is intended to harm someone by damaging or manipulating his or her relationships with others. Relationally aggressive behaviors include exclusion, malicious gossip and rumor spreading, teasing and name calling, alliance building, covert physical aggression and cyberbullying. Relational aggression is significantly associated with social and psychological maladjustment during childhood, adolescence and young adulthood. Both victims and initiators of RA have a higher incidence of serious mental health problems such as depression, loneliness, alienation, emotional distress, and isolation. At the college level, prior experience with RA has been associated with bulimic symptoms. Relational aggression has been shown to escalate during the time period of adolescence.

• A. It hurts more to see written gossip than to hear verbal insults
• B. The anonymity in cyberbullying lowers personal responsibility and accountability and spreads gossip more quickly to a wider audience
• C. Cyberbullies are almost always weird kids with lots of problems
• D. All of the above

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B: Cyberbullying is particularly powerful because it can happen so quickly and to a much wider audience than is possible in traditional bullying. The anonymity of cyberbullying allows students to say things that they might not normally say face-to-face. The incidence of cyberbullying is increasing. According to 2005 national surveys, twice as many 10-17 year-olds had been victims and perpetrators of online harassment compared with 1999/2000. Instant messaging is the most common method of cyberbullying.

• A. Being a part of a crowd, having a best friend, and feeling as if others like you are ways in which girls judge their self-worth
• B. Girls are typically oriented towards using relationships/intimacy with others to discover who they are
• C. Girls oftentimes have few acceptable culture outlets for aggression
• D. All of the above

Correct!Incorrect
D: Girls are typically very oriented towards using relationships/intimacy with others to discover who they are. Girls’ friendships become the barometer of their social status. There are traditionally very few acceptable cultural outlets for girls to demonstrate their angry feelings; indirect expression of anger is the norm for girls. The need for control, to influence others and to demonstrate competitiveness all contribute to the occurrence of relational aggression. In addition, the media (television and movies) have popularized the notion of relational aggression in girls, helping create expectations that it is “typical” behavior for adolescent girls.

• A. Target, bully, and bystanders
• B. Victim, Bully, and Adults
• C. Teachers, Students, and Parents
• D. Victim, Perpetrator, and Adult

Correct!Incorrect
A: The three roles that girls play in relational aggression are the target, the bully, and the bystanders. Most girls have been in all three roles at one time or another. All three roles come from a place of insecurity and fear and girls in each role feel confused, hurt and unsure. Every girl has a choice in these situations, with bystanders having a great deal of power to shift the dynamics of these situations for the good.

• A. Students experiencing high levels of RA are less connected to their school & participate in fewer activities
• B. RA is found across social strata, in rural and urban areas, all girl schools and coed schools, and in countries around the world
• C. Girls who have been targeted by relational aggression almost always tell an adult and ask for help
• D. Prevention programs for helping students and parents deal with relational aggression can be helpful in modifying behavior and helping girls treat each other with respect and compassion

Correct!Incorrect
C: 30% to 60% of children do not report their victimization – at least not to adults at school or to their parents. Reporting varies by age and gender. Older children and boys are less likely to report victimization. One reason that students do not report is that they have a lack of confidence in the way that teachers (and other school authorities) handle incidents and reports. In a survey of U.S. high school students, 66% of those bullied felt school personnel responded poorly to bullying incidents. Only 6% felt school staff members handled these problems very well. Unfortunately, adults within the school environment dramatically overestimate their effectiveness in identifying and intervening in bullying situations. In one study, 70% of teachers believed that teachers intervene “almost always” in bullying situations, while only 25% of the students agreed with their assessment. Because many children don’t report their experiences, it is incumbent on adults and other students to be vigilant and responsive.